FDI crosses $300 billion; signals India is a safe bet

December 5, 2016, 9:55 AM IST

U.S. one-hundred dollar bills are seen in this photo illustration at a bank in Seoul August 2, 2013. Picture taken August 2, 2013. South Korea's foreign reserves jumped to a record high in July, the central bank said on August 5, 2013, appearing to support traders' suspicions of dollar-buying intervention by currency authorities last month. The reserves stood at $329.71 billion at the end of July, up $3.27 billion from June, the Bank of Korea said in a statement, attributing the rise to management gains and the appreciation of the euro in July, which the Bank of Korea said was up 1.8 percent against the dollar last month. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji (SOUTH KOREA - Tags: BUSINESS)

New delhi: India crossed the $300 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) milestone between April 2000 and September 2016, firmly establishing its credentials as a safe investment destination in the world.

Thirty three per cent of the FDI came through the Mauritius route, apparently because the investors wanted to take advantage of India’s double taxation avoidance treaty with the island nation.

India received $101.76 billion from Mauritius between April 2000 and September 2016. The cumulative FDI inflows during the period amounted to $310.26 billion.

The inflows in the first half of the current financial year was $21.62 billion, according to data compiled by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

The other big investors have been from Singapore, the US, UK and the Netherlands. Commenting on the $300 billion mark, industry bodies Ficci and CII have said that India is perceived as a safe and dynamic destination by global investors.

Ficci said that the liberalisation of the FDI policy framework, major national development programmes such as Make in India, Digital India and Skill India, besides increasing competitiveness, have made India the preferred choice for investors globally.

“We see this trend of increasing inflows further strengthening in the coming years,” Ficci president Harshavardhan Neotia said. CII said that FDI flows have increased significantly and consistently in the last two years and the country would continue to remain as one of the most attractive destinations in the foreseeable future.
PTI